Highlights from the Collection

Dance mask

Ramu River, Papua New Guinea

Relationships with Wildlife

Indigenous communities across the globe rely on wildlife for food and creating material culture (the objects people use to define their culture). Culturally significant species in Papua New Guinea include pigs and boars, along with animals like crocodiles and cassowary birds. Climate change has offset the balance between humans and important wildlife species due to habitat loss and changes in natural environments.

Carved wooden pig
Middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea
Wood, pigment
Date unknown
Global Museum collection

Victor Feyling

Saint Sebastian
Victor Feyling, 2020
Ink drawing, glitter, and paper on panel

This figure is copied from a painting of Saint Sebastian by Hendrick ter Brugghen, a member of an art movement known as the Utrecht Caravaggisti for their emulation of the Italian master, Caravaggio. Saint Sebastian is known as a protector against plagues, which led to a massive spike in popularity during the Middle Ages during the bubonic plague, and again when the disease ravaged the Netherlands in the early 17th century. The arrows are thought to represent the plague, and though the wounds seem fatal, he does recover after being cared for by Saint Irene. Life is now very different than it was in 17th century Utrecht but COVID-19 likely conjures up many of the same anxieties, making Sebastian relevant again. In this particular image, the figure is drawn on the back of an old work schedule, calling to mind what has been lost as well as hope for the future.

Connections to the Ocean

Many communities have strong ties with the waters that surround them and depend on local marine resources for survival. Some are taking action and are building new infrastructure, planning for relocation, and advocating for policy change through international networks. For example, new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been established in the Philippines in the past few years, which include community-led monitoring programs.

Image of Alona Beach on Panglao Island in the Philippines, courtesy of the Global Museum

Cultural Connections

Aboriginal Australian art conveys knowledge of land and cultural traditions. The natural materials and snake imagery symbolize an ancient connection to the land, which is starting to change due to drought, wildfires, and rising sea levels.

Double-sided painted slab
Aboriginal Australian (Yolngu community)
Wood, ochre, mineral paint
Early to mid-20th century
Global Museum collection

Rose Tocchini

Square
Rose Tocchini, 2020
Yarn

My friend found out at eight months pregnant that she would probably have to give birth alone because of COVID-19 transmission concerns. Her partner would likely not even be able to wait outside; because of social-distancing constraints and risk of infection, they had no one to watch their 2½-year-old while the baby was being born.  

This is a square from a blanket I crocheted for the new baby. A single square symbolizes the anxiety and uncertainty of this time, because by itself it is useless—squares must be joined with other squares to make a blanket, just like people need to be with other people to form a community.  

The square will not always be alone; it will be joined to 55 others. My friend and her baby will not always be alone; they will return home to their family. Likewise, the loneliness and isolation of this time will be resolved. Until then, the square is a symbol of the feelings of isolation, anxiety, and uncertainty, as well as the hope of reunion, surrounding this pandemic.

Amarna Princess Statuette

Egypt, New Kingdom

Has Climate Change Affected your Friends and Family?

Has climate change affected your friends or family? Natural disasters related to climate change such as hurricanes and fires have become more common. Many architects are now finding ways to design and build in a responsive way in the face of climate change, and foresters and government agencies are looking to Indigenous fire management techniques and prescribed burns to reduce fuel buildup.

Image of 2018 Camp Fire smoke at SF State, courtesy of Sreang Hok

Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Across the world, Indigenous peoples have lived in their ancestral homelands for thousands of years, forming relationships with plant and animal life, water, the seasons, and weather. This knowledge is known as TEK, or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. TEK can help us think about how we address climate change. In the Bay Area, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band partners with numerous educational institutions, government agencies, land trusts, and conservation organizations on TEK-based ecological restoration projects in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Image courtesy of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust

Feather headdress

Worn by Raoni Metuktire, chief of the Txucarramae, Kayapó, Brazil 

Eharo mask

Attributed to Papua New Guinea/Oceania

National Climate Action Plans

In 2016, Papua New Guinea became the first country to formally submit a national climate action plan under the Paris Accord. This traditional kundu drum is featured on Papua New Guinea’s national emblem (click through the extended exhibition to view an image), embodying connections to nature.

Kundu drum
Gogodala community
Wood, snakeskin, pigment
Date Unknown

Global Museum collection

Maya Colbert

RE: Use
Maya Colbert, 2020
Photograph

This image of my kitchen is an example of one of the many ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered daily life for myself and my roommates. It shows a collection of reusable cloth bags surrounded by a sea of paper grocery bags, often used by consumers only once before being discarded.

Known for its high concentration of environmentally conscious people (who some may call “hippies”), the San Francisco Bay Area, where we live, was an early adopter of regulations meant to limit the production and use of single-use grocery bags. Reusable bags made from cloth quickly became ubiquitous. Many carried the bags as a badge of pride, marking themselves as “eco-warriors” fighting to save the environment.

COVID-19 precautions have altered this Bay Area staple, with most stores no longer allowing customers to bring in their own bags for fear of contamination. Stores like myself and my roommates’ favorite, Trader Joes, have opted to send customers home with free paper bags. Although the bags are paper and can go into the recycling bin, we have always been in the habit of saving them for potential reuse. After a few shopping trips, we realized that the bags were piling up. What, if anything, are we ever going to use them for?

Feather earrings

Attributed to Tapirapé tribe, Brazil

Talking about Climate Change

A major new study from Yale University reveals that one of the most important things we can do about climate change is to talk about it with friends and family, which leads to greater understanding and concern about the issue.

Image courtesy of the Global Museum

Ana Navarro

The Rona Artist
Ana Navarro, 2020
Acrylic paint on canvas

I am not an artist. I am not one to practice art. I am not one to study art.

Yet, during these times of COVID-19 uneasiness and isolation, I found a small joy. That little joy is painting.

I am not original. I simply recreate what I can find on Google Images.

I am the Rona Artist.

Shango staff

Yoruba artist, Africa

Essential Resources

Climate change impacts not only ancestral lands, but also essential resources. Native Hawaiian ancestral knowledge stems from the relationship between humans and ‘āina, meaning “that which nourishes us.” This octopus lure, along with other traditional items, is not only a tool but also a symbol of cultural identity.

Octopus lure
Native Hawaiian
Cowrie shell, stone, metal, string
Late 1800s
Collection of the California Academy of Sciences

New Technologies

Across the globe, Indigenous people are now using new technologies for hunting and subsistence strategies. Native Alaskan methods have tried new methods, including flying drones over ancestral hunting grounds, to track sea ice and walrus populations.

Carved walrus tusk depicting hunting scene
Native Alaskan
Walrus tusk (ivory)
Early 20th century
Collection of the California Academy of Sciences

Epa helmet mask

Yoruba artist, Africa

Materials from the Amazon Rainforest

This headdress is made of materials that were all gathered in the Amazon Rainforest. Indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin have long relied on plants for medicinal purposes, many of which are also used in modern pharmaceuticals. Some examples include medicines derived from Cinchona (quinine tree bark), Jaborandi, and Sangre de Grado, which are used to treat malaria, eye pressure, diarrhea, and other ailments.

Feather crown
Karajá (Iny) community, northeastern Brazil
Bird feathers, twine, wood
Mid-1900s
Global Museum collection

Funerary boat

Egypt

Climate-Forced Displacement

Rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, and climate-related natural disasters are forcing communities across the globe to leave their homes—sometimes permanently. The Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea are the first place in the world to require population relocations due to climate change. Many other islander and Sepik River communities have also moved inland due to rising sea levels. This Mwai mask decorated with cowrie shells and Gogodala canoe paddle embody relationships with waterways.

Image of entrance to the Climate Stories exhibition, courtesy of the Global Museum

Adapting Tradition

Indigenous communities are faced with changes to longstanding cultural traditions. Community members today often use cultural items such as headdresses for protests and political action in addition to traditional use. In this photograph Indigenous people, fisherman, and climate activists protest against an oil and gas auction in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2017.

Image by Juliana Colussil, Creative Commons

Sara Roberts

Masks
Sara Roberts, 2020
Photograph

These supplies are used to make homemade face masks. Like many, I felt the need to do something when the Coronavirus became a pandemic. As soon as the call came for homemade masks to help limit the spread, I started to sew. The masks pictured were later sent to Front Porch Care Center, a Jewish nursing home in Los Angeles. Other masks are sent to family, friends, and healthcare professionals across the country. The cat in the photograph provides much needed companionship while I shelter-in-place alone.

The Power of Plants and Fungi

Plants and fungi can serve as indicators of climate change. Even subtle differences in weather patterns can lead to a decrease in biodiversity, or the variety of life at all of its levels, from genes to ecosystems. The Hawaiian name for this mushroom is lama lama, or “to glow as if touched by the sun.” They grow in native wet forests in the mountainous regions of the Hawaiian Islands.

Image of 'Hygrocybe lamalama' courtesy of the Dennis Desjardin, Professor of Biology and Director of the Harry D. Thiers Herbarium at SF State